


The Day I Found You

by insomniacwriter17



Series: This New World We're Living In [2]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: End of the World, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Zombie Apocalypse, apocalypse au, end of the world AU, zombie apocalypse AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-07-20 01:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7385161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insomniacwriter17/pseuds/insomniacwriter17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael sighed before turning back to the truck to go talk to his mother, who was bound to be excited at the prospect of more people. Michael, on the other hand, wanted to stay the night then get gone. He didn’t want to be bogged down by more people when things got bad.<br/>But, Michael thought, if he was being honest… he didn’t want to get emotionally attached to anyone else who was going to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Found You at the Shelter

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the second story in this series! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this. As always, feel free to let me know what you think! xx

Ashton wasn’t too sure how long he sat at the kitchen table with Harry in his lap, but by the time the two boys moved to stand it was getting dark outside. The house was eerily quiet, leaving Ashton with goose bumps on his arms and Harry scooting as close to his older brother as he could. The young boy was sniffling and rubbing at his face to clear it of any tears that remained on his cheeks as Ashton helped him up the stairs and toward the bedrooms. “Why don’t you get changed for bed?” Ashton suggested softly, stopping and rubbing Harry’s shoulder while they stood in the hallway. “I’m going to talk to Lauren for a moment.”

“Wait, Ashton,” the older boy was stopped when he felt his younger brother’s hands wrap around Ashton’s arm, tugging needily. “C-can I stay in your room after I change?” The simple question made Ashton’s heart break, and he nodded without hesitation.  

“You do whatever you need to do, Harry,” Ashton leaned down to press a quick kiss to the boy’s forehead before gently nudging him down the hall. “Go on, I’ll be there soon.” Harry looked so small as he walked into his own bedroom, and Ashton wanted nothing but to cocoon him close to his body and make everything okay for his baby brother. But realistically Ashton realized he couldn’t, because that would mean making his mom not sick and putting the world back in working order. And Ashton could do a lot of things, but that was not one of them.

Taking a deep breath, the blonde knocked on Lauren’s bedroom door, unsurprised when he didn’t receive an answer. “Lauren, please open up. I want to talk, just for a second.” There still was no answer, so Ashton tried the doorknob. But Lauren had locked the door, and the overwhelming feeling of defeat at that realization left Ashton leaning his forehead against the door and blinking back tears. “Please, Lauren,” he all but whined. “I need to see you.”

There was a couple more seconds of silence, and Ashton pulled away from the door to leave when he heard the click of the door unlocking. The door cracked open and the boy moved toward the room, stepping in and looking to his sister, who stood a few feet away with her arms crossed over her chest. “Happy now?” she mumbled.

“No,” Ashton replied honestly. “This fucking sucks, Lauren. You know it and I know it.” Ashton really tried not to swear around his siblings, but this was an extreme situation, he decided. “Can you please talk to me? Tell me what you’re feeling, or thinking, or something!” he begged. “I need you to be open with me, otherwise we’re never going to get through this.” 

“I’m scared, Ashton. I want Mom to come home,” Lauren whispered, and Ashton’s heart broke once more. Lauren looked four, not fourteen, and it was almost as if Ashton had gone back in time and his eleven year old self was waking up to little Lauren standing by his bed sniffling and whispering that she had a bad dream, could she stay with him? And inevitably Ashton would hold her close to his chest until she fell back asleep.

And that’s how Ashton found himself hugging Lauren close, resting his chin on top of her head as he sighed. “I want her to come home, too,” he told her. “And she will,” at that the boy pulled away and tucked Lauren’s hair behind her ear. “So until then, why don’t we all just sit tight and make the best of this giant slumber party?”

Lauren scoffed and shook her head, pushing away from Ashton and turning to look out the window, her back to her brother. “You’re acting like this is a game,” she mumbled. “Mom is sick and all these other people are sick, don’t you think it’s time to act like something is wrong?” Lauren spat, and Ashton didn’t have to see her face to know that she was incredibly angry.

Knowing he had to handle this conversation very carefully, Ashton took a deep breath and counted to ten once or twice before answering. “Listen, Lauren. I am doing the best I can. Harry needs me – us – to be strong and be there for him. And I know I’ve got to be there for you. I’m juggling this and it’s going to take me a minute to find the balance. Please, please help me out,” Ashton begged. The older boy watched as Lauren’s shoulders slumped and she turned back around to face her brother, her face much softer and sad.

“Fine,” she mumbled. “Ash?”

“What, love?” Ashton murmured, petting her hair as he glanced down. “What is it?”

“Can I stay with you and Harry?” Lauren looked shy, and it made Ashton chuckle as he smiled and kissed her forehead.

“Of course you can. Get changed for bed and then meet us in my room,” he told her. Ashton let himself out and let the door shut behind him before he made his way down the hall toward his own bedroom. The light was on and the door was cracked, so Ashton knew Harry was already in there, so Ashton stepped in after slapping a smile on his face. “Hey, kid,” he grinned as he plopped down onto the bed beside the baby of the family. “What’s up?”

“I looked through your movies,” Harry admitted, smiling sheepishly before he held a plastic case out to his brother. “I thought we could watch a movie tonight. Is that okay?” It sounded as if Harry was suddenly doubting himself once Ashton took the case, and Ashton glanced at the title of the film.

“Dude, Tarzan’s my favorite movie ever. Of course we can watch it!” Wrapping his arms around Harry once more, Ashton gently tackled the boy onto the bed and tickled his side, a genuine grin spreading across his face for the first time as he heard the laughter leaving Harry’s mouth.

This continued for a couple of moments before there was an awkward cough from the doorway, and both males glanced up to see Lauren in the doorway, looking almost shy. “Lauren!” Harry grinned, sitting up quickly. “Ashton said we can watch Tarzan!”

“Cool,” she giggled, sitting beside Harry. Then she looked up at Ashton, eyes shining. “Wait, can we make popcorn?” she wondered, and Ashton nodded.

“Why not? It’s a party tonight,” Ashton wiggled his eyebrows playfully. “You go make the popcorn and I’ll set up the movie then go get changed.” Lauren jumped off the bed and hurried down the stairs while Harry scooted up to the head of Ashton’s bed, waiting patiently for his siblings.

It was irrational that Ashton was afraid to leave his little brother alone in his room, and Ashton knew that, but sometimes these things couldn’t be helped. So Ashton found reasons to stall until Lauren returned with a large bowl of popcorn and bottles of water for all of them before he left to change.

Once in the bathroom down the hall, Ashton leaned against the closed door and squeezed his eyes shut, all while tangling his fingers in his hair. “Fuck,” he mumbled to himself, giving in to the burning behind his eyes and letting some tears fall. “Fuck, this is too much,” he whispered, beginning to cry harder. Afraid of the little ones hearing his breakdown, Ashton turned on the shower and slumped to the floor, dropping his forehead onto his knees before he let himself continue to cry.

Ashton only allowed himself a couple of moments of weakness before he stood and squared his shoulders while looking at himself in the mirror and trying to wash his face. He then turned off the shower and was in the process of changing into pajamas when there was a frantic knock on the door. “Ashton! Ashton, there’s police at the door and they’re looking for you!”

Ashton ripped the door open and reached out to put his hand onto Lauren’s shoulders. The girl looked terrified – not that Ashton blamed her at all. “Okay, you stay in my room with Harry. Understand me? I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as I know,” Ashton tried to make his voice as soothing as possible. “You sit tight,” he instructed, kissing her forehead and pushing her toward his room.

Taking a deep breath, Ashton made his way down to the first floor, stomach clenching when he saw the two uniformed officers standing in the entry hall. “Hi, I’m Ashton,” he introduced himself, swallowing thickly. “How can I help you?”

“Your sister said you’re in charge around here because your mom’s sick,” one officer said. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Thank you. What’s happening?” Ashton wondered.

“We don’t know, but it’s not safe here,” the other officer replied, and Ashton put his finger to his lips.

“We have a little kid up there I don’t want to scare. Sorry, could you like, talk quieter?” Ashton requested, and the man nodded quickly.

“Sure, sorry. But Ashton, it’s not safe around here. Emergency services are mandating evacuation for this area.” He went quiet after that, and Ashton stood blankly, obviously processing what the policeman had just said.

In Ashton’s brain, he had processed everything the officer told him, but he was still frozen thinking about what that meant. When the ringing in his ears died down Ashton could hear that the officers were still talking. “…shelter a few towns over. You can try for space down there,” they said. “But we have to check the other houses. We’d like you to be out within an hour. We’ll come back and check.” And just like that, they were gone.

Ashton was still standing stock-still, mind whirling as he mentally prepared to tell his siblings that they were going to have to leave. Eventually he made his way back upstairs, stopping in the doorway of his room, glancing in at where Lauren was sitting with her arms wrapped around Harry, head dipped as she whispered to him. Ashton cleared his throat and both of his siblings glanced up and Lauren even stood up. “What’d they want?” she asked nervously.

Ashton sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair. “I need you guys to listen carefully and stay quiet until I’m done talking. Can you both do that?” he asked, receiving nods from both kids. “People are getting sicker around here, so the police want us to leave. They want us to go a couple towns over where they have a shelter for people who are being displaced. We’re going to go stay there for awhile until this all clears up. I need both of you to go pack a bag with clothes and all the stuff you’re going to need like we’re going on vacation.” Ashton stopped and surveyed the kids’ faces, watching the realization strike Lauren’s face, and then Harry’s, and then Harry began to cry.

“But what about Mommy?” Harry hiccupped, and Ashton rushed over to hug both children.

“Mom’s at the clinic, remember? She’s got lots of good doctors looking over her and she’s going to get better and then she’ll call us and she’ll join us,” Ashton promised. He then moved to squat in front of Harry, wiping the boy’s tears away. “But for now she wants us to leave here and wait for her where it’s safe so we don’t get sick as well. She wants us to be super brave and wait for her where we won’t get ill.”

“Okay,” Harry whispered, rubbing his eyes with his fists. “I-I can be brave.”

“I know you can,” Ashton promised, squeezing his shoulder. “Now, go on,” he stated, standing. “Both of you go pack. We’ve got to move fast. I’ll come help you guys just as soon as I get my stuff together.”

Lauren made to move but Harry seemed frozen in his spot. Lauren noticed this and reached out and took Harry’s hand. “Come on now,” she instructed gently. “I’ll help you pack.” Ashton smiled thankfully at Lauren over Harry’s head and then turned to his own closet, pulling out a duffel bag and a backpack, beginning to throw clothes and shoes and other things that they might need together haphazardly. After he deemed his own things packed he made his way to the laundry room downstairs, grabbing a first aid kit and tossing it onto the kitchen counter beside his bags.

Looking around the house that suddenly looked much darker than it had just a couple hours ago, and as Ashton made his way up the stairs two at a time, he found it hard to believe that Harry’s football game had been just that morning. “How’s it going up here?” Ashton called, stopping in Lauren’s room first, where the girl was just starting to pack. Harry was nowhere in sight. “Where’s Harry?”

“He said he could get the rest of his stuff packed. I made sure he got the essentials, so everything from here out isn’t quite necessary but just stuff he wants,” Lauren mumbled, shoving some shirts into a backpack.

“Thank you for that, Laur. You’re doing great with all this. You sure you doing okay?” Ashton worried, and Lauren scoffed as she looked through her closet.

“Nope,” she replied honestly. “I feel like I’m going to vomit. But I’m not going to because I have more important things to focus on,” she sighed. “Really, Ash, I can handle myself. Can we please focus on getting out of here? If it’s not safe, I don’t want to be here,” she whimpered.

Ashton took a couple steps forward and wrapped his arms around Lauren again, holding her close. “I’m going to keep you safe,” he whispered in her ear. “You understand me?” Lauren just nodded against his chest before pulling away when she heard Harry’s trembling voice cry out for Ashton. After placing one more kiss upon Lauren’s forehead, Ashton turned and stepped toward Harry’s room, calling out for him.

“Harry? What’s up, love?” Ashton arrived in Harry’s doorway and looked in to see Harry standing with a stuffed animal in one arm and a family picture in the other.

“I can’t make both of these fit in my bag,” Harry whimpered, turning to Ashton sadly. The older brother smiled and stepped forward, rubbing his hand up and down Harry’s back as he studied the items as well as the bag on the bed. Then he took the items from Harry and made quick work of refolding some of the boy’s clothing before making both the stuffed animal and the picture fit in the bag.

“There we go. Not a problem, see? No need for tears,” Ashton murmured, wiping at Harry’s cheeks. “You all ready?”

“We’ll come back, right?” Harry wondered, and Ashton nodded.

“It might be awhile, but we’ll come back,” he promised.

“Then I’m ready,” Harry nodded. Ashton nodded and ruffled Harry’s hair, kissing it before stepping away.

“Be sure to grab a pillow and blanket for the car and then meet me downstairs,” Ashton told him. “And turn off all your lights.” After Harry nodded his understanding, Ashton left to tell Lauren the same instructions. Pretty soon they were all downstairs with their things, and Ashton pointed to the couch. “Both of you sit here until I get the car packed up, okay? I’ll come back and get you when we’re ready.” It was dark out, and the idea of leaving the kids outside without him made Ashton uneasy.

Ashton made quick work of getting the car all packed up, making sure that everything that might need to be accessed while they were in the car was in the backseat. His mother had taken his truck to the clinic, leaving Ashton with the more durable, larger, and better-in-a-crisis car. Ashton didn’t think that a coincidence.

He was just finishing packing the car when a police car rounded the corner rather quickly. The car stopped a few houses down, and the same officers from before exited the car. While one went toward the house they’d parked at, the other saw Ashton and held up a hand, gesturing for the boy to wait. The man jogged toward Ashton and nodded in greeting. “You ready to go?” he wondered.

“Leaving just now,” Ashton replied, nodding. “My siblings are inside.”

“Be sure to lock up,” the officer nodded. “And then head west out of town for the shelter.”

“Thank you,” Ashton nodded. “Good luck,” he added after a moment as the policeman walked away.

“You too, kid,” he called over his shoulder. Ashton turned on his heel and walked back inside, standing at the door.

“Hey guys,” Ashton called gently. “We should go. The police are outside, making sure we get out of the neighborhood okay.” Both of his siblings stood, and Ashton smiled reassuringly and held his hands out for them to take. “We’re going to be fine,” he promised once more. Harry yawned before he could say much more, and Ashton chuckled.

“You can sleep in the car. All the pillows and such are in the back seat. The car trip will go by like that,” Ashton told him, snapping his fingers before flipping off the living room lights, plunging the house into total darkness. He ushered the kids out onto the front porch and then took care to lock up the house, then led them to the car. Lauren climbed into the front passenger’s seat, allowing Harry to stretch out in the back seat while Ashton started the car. “You can sleep too,” Ashton told Lauren, and the girl sighed before she leaned the seat back a bit. Ashton drove in silence for just a couple of minutes before he hit the traffic jam of people leaving the city, and he sighed as he sat back in his seat, destined to be bored from this moment forward.

“Ash?” Harry’s quiet voice floated up from the back seat. Ashton looked in the backseat and raised his eyebrows.

“I thought you were sleeping,” he murmured quietly. Lauren was already asleep beside him.

“I can’t sleep. Can…can you sing to me?” Harry sounded so small, and Ashton felt his heart tug once more.

“Sure, bud. Any requests?” he replied.

“Something quiet,” Harry mumbled, a clear sign that he was already growing sleepy. It only took a moment for Ashton to make up his mind, and then he began to sing softly.

 _So go ahead and lie to yourself, and pretend that you’re a ray of light when you’re a broken candle. Keeping time with yourself, when did it all start moving way too fast for you to handle?_  

Sitting in the dark car, with one sibling asleep beside him, and the other behind him not far from sleep himself, Ashton began to worry he wasn’t good enough. As he continued to sing the song he’d heard only hours before on his laptop, the red taillights of the car in front of him blurred as his eyes filled with tears.

_You’re short on breath, but heavy on time. You lost the words but you found the rhyme. It’s all just poetry now. And the walls are singing ‘Hallelujah, amen.’ The walls are singing ‘Hallelujah, amen.’_

Ashton continued to sing to his brother, listening as he heard the younger’s breath evening into sleep. He glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled at the sight of Harry curled up beneath a blanket with his stuffed animal clutched tightly in his arms, making Ashton wonder why he even bothered trying to get it in the bag. But he didn’t stop singing until he finished the song.

_‘Hallelujah, amen.’ The walls sing you to sleep. ‘Hallelujah, amen.’ One secret meant to keep you safe, tonight. I swear that everything will be alright._

~*~*~

Calum had been driving for hours. Well, he used the term “driving” very leniently. Traffic had been so heavy that his speedometer had not gotten above twenty miles an hour at all this trip. He had stopped a few times when the puppy seemed suspiciously close to peeing on his car seat, but eventually he saw signs advertising a shelter and he began to follow them. It took another few hours before he pulled up in front of the large high school, but even moments after parking, he just had a feeling there was no room for him. But still, he pulled his bag from his backseat and pulled Champ into his arms. “Here’s to hoping, right?” he mumbled before opening his door, nearly hitting the car that had zoomed into the parking spot beside him. “Shit!” he hissed.

But Calum ducked his head and quickly made his way to the front door of the high school, and Calum knew just by the way the lady at the door smiled sympathetically that they had no room. “Nothing?” he asked. “I don’t even need a room or nothing. I just need a corner or something.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, as if it were coming from a script. “We’re all full. There’s another shelter a couple towns away.” Calum frowned.

“I’ve been driving all day. Are you sure there’s nothing?” he asked once more, and she shook her head.

“Sorry, love,” she said. “Good luck.” Calum just sighed and turned on his heel, heading back to his car.

“Sorry, Champ,” Calum grumbled to the puppy, scratching behind the tiny dog’s ears as he made his way through the maze of parked cars. He was almost back at his own car when another voice called out.

“All full up?” Calum glanced up to see a tall blonde boy leaning against the hood of the same car that had nearly run him over a minute prior.

“Totally. They said there’s a place a few towns up,” Calum sighed. “But I’ve been driving all day. Roads are nasty.”

“I know,” the blonde replied. “We’ve been in the car for what seems like forever. Luckily they’ve slept most of the way. I decided to take some fresh air while they were still sleeping.”

“They?” Calum wondered before he stopped. “Sorry, I’m just assuming you wanted to talk,” he blushed. “I haven’t talked to anyone for awhile. Except this little one,” Calum gestured to Champ, who was now walking around on the ground between the parked cars as Calum watched.

“My siblings. I’m Ashton, by the way,” the blonde reached out and offered his hand to Calum, who shook it and offered his own name.

“Nice to meet you,” Calum added. Ashton opened his mouth to echo the sentiment when the back door of his car opened, and both teens turned to see what was going on. Calum watched as a small boy pulled himself from the car, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“Ash?” he whined, and Ashton slid off the hood to walk around toward his brother.

“Hey, bud,” Ashton murmured, rubbing the child’s back. “What’s going on?”

“I have to go to the bathroom,” the boy yawned. Ashton frowned and glanced over his shoulder at Calum.

“Hey, mate, would you have happened to see if they had bathrooms up there?” Ashton wondered, and Calum shook his head apologetically.

“It was all inside, and they seemed pretty adamant on not letting anyone else in the – Harry?” Calum’s statement was interrupted after he saw the small head peeking around Ashton. “Harry, is that you?”

“Calum?” Harry gasped, immediately running forward and hugging the boy around the waist. “Calum, hi!”

“You guys know each other?” Ashton wondered. Harry pulled away and nodded, standing close to Calum.

“Calum works at the rec center. He helps coach my team sometimes,” Harry replied proudly. Ashton nodded then looked around. Calum glanced down and picked up Champ, who had bumped into his foot a moment prior. Cuddling the puppy to his chest, he listened to Ashton sigh.

“Alright, kid. Unless you want to wait for us to find somewhere else, you might just want to step back behind the car,” Ashton told Harry. “It’s up to you.” Harry blushed as he looked between his brother and Calum, but then stepped away and Ashton stepped back toward Calum. “So,” Ashton’s voice was quieter now. “What’s your plan from here, do you think?”

“I think I’ll find somewhere to pull off for tonight and sleep in my car,” Calum shrugged. “I don’t want to drive all that way tonight. What about you?”

“Probably the same,” Ashton nodded. “I’m too tired to drive much farther. It’s…uh…it’s been a rough day,” Calum noticed the way Ashton’s voice trailed off and immediately knew something was very wrong. Calum didn’t comment on it though, especially when Harry reappeared and wiggled up underneath Ashton’s arm, letting the other hold him close.

“Calum, are you going to stay with us?” Harry asked innocently. Calum opened his mouth to reply no, there was no way he could, but then he met eyes with Ashton, who seemed to be considering the option. “Well, are you?”

“I don’t know,” Calum laughed softly. “What do you think, Ashton?”

“At least for tonight, I think we’d all like the company?” Ashton offered. “If you’d like to leave your car here tonight we can find somewhere to stay. I can drop you back here again in the morning, if we haven’t made another plan by then.”

Calum thought about that and then nodded, turning to his car. “Are you sure?” he wondered, making sure he had everything before he locked his car. “Only if you’re sure.”

“We should check with Lauren first,” Ashton realized. Calum nodded in understanding as Ashton held up a finger then opened the passenger’s side door, crouching in front of the door. Harry moved and leaned against his brother as well, and Calum watched as Ashton seamlessly pulled Harry close and continued to rub his arm while talking quietly to someone in the front seat. Then Ashton stood, smiling at Calum. “We’ve got a seat available if you’d like it,” he offered.

“That would be much appreciated,” Calum nodded. “I think I could use the company.”

“You can sit next to me!” Harry cheered, opening his door and climbing in, scrambling across the seat to allow Calum a space as well. “Can I hold your puppy?”

“Sure,” Calum laughed as he dropped his bag in the trunk at Ashton’s instruction and then ducked into the car beside Harry and behind Lauren, who was already asleep again. “His name is Champ.” Meanwhile, Ashton started the car and began to drive, looking for any place that would be hidden away for them to stop for the night.

“I like that name,” Harry commented, cuddling the puppy close and yawning. “Calum, did the police make you leave your house too?” he wondered sleepily, and Calum nodded slowly.

“Yeah, buddy, they did,” he said quietly.

“Did your family get sick? Why are you alone?” Harry wondered innocently.

“Harry! That’s not polite. You don’t have to answer that,” Ashton chastised his brother, then immediately addressed Calum as well.

“No, no it’s fine,” Calum smiled. He turned to Harry and shook his head. “My family is in America right now.”

“Oh,” Harry mumbled tiredly, his head lolling to the side and leaning against the window as he attempted to stay awake. “I wish Mommy just was in America.” Silence filled the car after that, and Ashton looked in the rearview mirror and met eyes with Calum, unsure of what to say, if anything. And that silence was just long enough for Harry to succumb to sleep once more, so Ashton said nothing and just continued to drive. And Calum stayed quiet too, wondering what on earth you were even supposed to say to something like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Ashton sings in this chapter is "Sanctuary" by Paradise Fears! I don't own. I just enjoy. A lot.


	2. I Found You in the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So home is just…gone?” Luke piped in from the back seat. Jack shook his head but his hands tightened on the steering wheel.  
> “Home’s still there. Just, the people around home…” he trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second part of this story! Hope you enjoy and look out for the next story coming soon! xx

Luke’s ears were ringing too loudly for him to hear what his brothers were saying. Even if he could hear, he wasn’t sure that he’d process the words because his mind was reeling so quickly it was hard to keep up.

_If this flu is killing people….how are they coming back to life? This can’t be real life. Ryan has the flu. Is Ryan going to die? Did I catch it from Ryan? Fuck…_

“What if I caught it from Ryan?” Luke whispered out, and both older Hemmings children stopped their bickering and turned to look at their baby brother.

“You didn’t catch it from Ryan,” Ben promised. “Let’s get you cleaned up so we can keep moving.” At that, Ben opened his car door and moved to the trunk to grab Luke’s bag, while Jack turned further in his seat to look at Luke.

“Hey, listen to me, okay? If you caught this thing from Ryan you’d already be feeling it. It’d come on quick. So I swear to you on my own life that you are okay,” nodded at Luke. Luke swallowed thickly and looked down at his lap, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he began to carefully take off his sick-covered shirt. “I think we have some napkins up here, hold on,” Ben murmured, turning back to the front.

Luke jumped in surprise a moment later when the door beside him flew open, but when he turned to look, it was just Ben standing with Luke’s duffel in his hand. “Sorry,” the man smiled gently, stepping aside so Luke could get out of the car. The boy slid off the seat and his shoes hit the hard pavement of the road, already balling up the shirt he’d pulled off a moment before. Jack dropped the duffel into the seat that Luke had just vacated, and a second later Jack was waving a plastic bag in front of Ben's face, offering it so that they had something to put the gross clothes in.

Luke dug through the bag and pulled out the first shirt he found, tugging it over his head and then rummaging for some shorts as well. It wasn’t until he had set the new shorts on top of the duffel that he realized that he was nearly twenty years old and about to drop his pants in the middle of nowhere with his older brother standing there. Ben seemed to have the same thought process, and he coughed awkwardly. “Wait, stand here,” he commented, pushing Luke so the boy was shielded from oncoming traffic by the open back door of the SUV. “And I’m turning around,” Ben added, and Luke huffed as he began to undo his belt.

In what could probably go in the record books as the fastest change of clothes in history, Luke kicked off the skinny jeans he’d donned that morning and all but jumped into the shorts he’d chosen. Then he stood in silence before clearing his throat. “Okay,” he whispered, and Ben turned around, still holding the bag with the dirty shirt. Luke crumpled up the jeans as well and made a face as he pushed them into the bag. “Sorry,” he added, embarrassment dripping off the word.

Ben tied a knot in the bag and then tossed it in the trunk before he just looked at the young boy, who was avoiding any eye contact with him. “Luke, look at me,” Ben whispered, and Luke glanced up, cheeks tinged pink. Instead of saying anything, Ben pulled Luke into a tight hug. Out of instinct, Luke’s arms wrapped around his brother’s waist and he squeezed him tight, pushing his face into his older brother’s chest. “I know this is confusing and scary as fuck and we don’t know exactly what’s going on, but we’re going to make it through this.”

“Promise you’ll stop keeping me out of the loop,” Luke mumbled, not moving from his spot against his brother. “I want to know everything that’s happening. I…I want to be prepared,” his voice had started off strong but had trailed off until he was meekly insisting that his brother talk.

“You got it,” Ben nodded before patting Luke’s back and stepping away. “Get back in the car, I’ll put your stuff in the back and we’ll keep going.” Luke sniffled and handed Jack the luggage before he plopped back down into the seat.

“Luke, have you eaten today?” Jack wondered, and Luke gnawed at his lip as he thought, then shook his head. “Shit, kid! It’s like, super late. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m not hungry,” Luke told him with a shrug.

“Too bad, here you go. Eat it,” Jack insisted, pulling a granola bar from the backpack at his feet. “It’s not much, but it’ll get something in your system.” Luke took the snack and pulled half-heartedly at the packaging as Jack slid into the driver’s seat again. “Ben, we’ve got to stop for food soon. I’m starving and I just found out that Luke hasn’t eaten all day either.”

“I didn’t even think about that. Damn, sorry Luke,” Ben winced.

“It’s okay,” Luke mumbled through his full mouth, shrugging. “I’m not even hungry.”

“Well, either way, we’re about an hour away from town, and then we’ll stop for something,” Jack promised before pointing to the phone in the well between the front seats. “Have we tried calling Mom and Dad lately?”

“Yeah, still busy,” Ben sighed. “Our best bet is just to get to the shelter they told us about, I think.”

“So home is just…gone?” Luke piped in from the back seat. Jack shook his head but his hands tightened on the steering wheel.

“Home’s still there. Just, the people around home…” he trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

“We live close to the hospital,” Luke realized. “So all those sick people…”

“Yeah,” Ben added quickly, and the car fell silent.

“Oh.” Luke dropped his eyes to the floor of the car, eyes catching sight of the backpack at his feet. A fleeting thought entered his mind that maybe he should do some homework, just to keep up with the syllabus, but then he scoffed to himself. For some reason, he had a sneaking suspicion that school didn’t matter anymore.

~*~*~

Michael lost track of time behind the wheel, just trying to get away. He, unlike the majority of the other cars, was taking the road less traveled by. He didn’t stay on the packed highway or head to another big city. If this is what he thought this was, then he didn’t want to be in a big city when the shit hit the fan.

Radio reports spoke of people with a terrible flu, those who seemed dead _weren’t_ dead, and that some people were so delirious from their fever that anything short of a bullet to the head couldn’t stop them from trying to violently attack people. And they didn’t just attack people – they were _eating_ people.

Michael was a video game buff, he read comic books, and he had seen all the old horror movies. He knew a zombie apocalypse when was being presented. And he was pretty sure that was what this was. As Michael continued to drive, his knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly, he tried to push the images out of his head.

“Should we find one of those shelters they keep advertising on the radio?” Karen asked of her son, but the boy didn’t answer. He continued to stare straight ahead, not even giving any indication that he’d heard his mother. “Michael?” she wondered. Still no response. “Michael!” she said, a bit louder this time. When he didn’t respond to his name being called a second, third, fourth time, Karen sighed and reached out to lay a hand on Michael’s arm. “Mikey? Baby?”

“Huh? What?” Michael jumped at the contact, obviously being jerked from deep thought. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“I asked if we wanted to find one of those shelters, you know, the ones they’re offering on the radio. Are you alright?” the mother worried.

“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking,” Michael shrugged. “I don’t know. We can try to find one if you want. But I don’t want to settle at one.”

“But Michael, we’re both going to have to sleep at some point,” Karen pointed out. “Stopping for the night won’t hurt anything.”

“Yeah,” Michael nodded, handing his mother his phone. “Try and look on the emergency services websites if there’s any around here.” The car fell silent after that, and a few minutes later Karen handed the phone to Michael.

“There’s one on the opposite side of the next town. We could stop there and get something to eat, then head toward it for the night,” Karen suggested. Michael glanced down at the screen, studying it for a moment. He nodded silently and then placed the phone back on the dash board, pressing the gas pedal a bit to speed up and pass a dark colored SUV that was pulling back onto the road from the shoulder.

“That sounds good,” he agreed. “Are you doing okay?” he wondered, glancing over at his mother.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, love. You’ve heard what the radio’s saying. Something is very obviously going on, the police made us leave our house with no notice, and now we have to stay in some shelter providing they still have an open spot for us.” Karen sighed and rubbed her temples in agitation, and Michael sighed deeply.

“I’m sorry,” Michael said a moment later, and Karen gasped.

“No, baby, you’re not allowed to apologize. None of this your fault. You’ve been so great. I’m just frustrated at everything.” The mother frowned and turned in her seat a little so she could see her son better. “You’ve done everything right, none of this should you be apologizing for.”

“I feel bad though,” Michael frowned. “You shouldn’t have to put up with this. You should be sitting at home being excited about your new job. Not hauling ass across an abandoned road because the zombie apocalypse has started,” he huffed.

“Michael, stop,” Karen repeated. “We’re going to get through this.”

“But we shouldn’t have to,” Michael insisted, huffing before he shrugged. “Nevermind, let’s just focus on getting somewhere for food?” he offered. Karen nodded and leaned back in her seat, sighing quietly.

“I wish I’d grabbed a book,” she murmured. “This is quite boring now.”

“There’s a gas station up here,” Michael pointed out, nodding to the sign peeking up over the top of the hill they were ascending. “We can stop there, maybe they’ll have some magazines or something.”

“We need food first and foremost,” Karen replied. As Michael turned into the gas station, he nodded his agreement. He parked in front of the door to the building and then squeezed his mom’s arm.

“You stay here, okay?” he requested. “Keep the doors locked.” With that the boy jumped out of the car and into the surprisingly deserted gas station. The young man grabbed a small hand basket and began to look around the convenience store, stocking up on as many water bottles as he could fit in the basket. A couple of boxes of granola bars were next, and then Michael saw the refrigerator labeled “Deli Products”.

On his way to the section, Michael came across the entertainment section and grabbed a few books for his mother to read. Then he continued on his way to the refrigerated food, hoping that whatever was there wouldn’t be totally picked over.

There was a tall blonde in front of it browsing what seemed to be a very limited selection, so Michael came up beside him quickly and glanced into the box as well. Seeing one ham and cheese sandwich left, Michael muttered a quick ‘Excuse me’ and moved to grab it.

“Hey, no, that’s mine,” the blonde interrupted, his hand falling onto the plastic container.

“What? You weren’t even holding onto it,” Michael scoffed. “Come on. It’s for my mother.”

“It’s for my baby brother,” the blonde responded. “He’s a picky eater and hasn’t eaten all day.”

“Mom trumps brother,” Michael reached for the sandwich once more and winced just the slightest bit as the large blonde turned to him, scowl in place.

“I was here first.”

“You have like two other sandwiches,” Michael gestured to the blonde’s hand, where he did indeed hold two sandwiches. “You can spare one.”

“There’s three of us in my car,” the man replied. “Listen. You can’t have the sandwich, so scram.”

“I’m going to take care of my mother,” Michael insisted flatly.

“My baby brother needs it,” the man replied again. “So if you want it, we’re going to fight for it.”

“I’m not going to fight you over a sandwich.” Michael spat, turning away. “Fine. Whatever.”

Stalking away and leaving the tall blonde at the refrigerator, Michael grabbed a handful of beef jerky and made his way to the cash register, where the small teenage boy working the counter seemed less than interested in anything happening. “Hey, dude, you wouldn’t happen to have any sandwiches in the back or anything would you?” he wondered. 

“No, sorry, all stock is up front.” The boy sounded bored as he rung up the lot of water bottles that Michael had brought to him, pushing everything into a bag and reading the total off to Michael.

“Oh, shit, hey, can you cash a check?” Michael realized as he pulled his wallet from the back of his jeans. The kid shrugged and held out his hand for the slip of paper, glancing at it for a moment and then counting out the appropriate amount of cash. As soon as he handed it to Michael, Michael counted out what he owed for the food and passed it back over the counter to the teen. “Thanks,” Michael nodded. “Good luck out there.”

“Yeah. Same to you,” the kid replied and then Michael turned to head for the door. His hand had no sooner hit the door handle when he heard a loud, ‘Hey!’

Michael turned back around and there was the tall blonde guy, looking a bit sheepish. “Look. I’ll split the sandwich with you for six more water bottles,” he sighed. “Sound fair?”

“Maybe,” Michael cocked his head to the side. “What changed your mind?”

The tall guy shrugged, looking at his shoes. “I’d want someone to do the same for me.”

Michael thought about it for a moment and then nodded, reaching into his bag to grab some waters. “Fine,” he nodded. “Thanks,” he added.

“Yeah. I’m Ben,” the blonde answered as he handed over the half of the sandwich still in the container. “Good luck out there.”

“Michael,” the teen answered with a nod. “Thanks. You too.”

“Be safe,” Ben commented before Michael let the door swing shut behind him, heading back out to the car. Ben then turned to the counter, dropping all his food onto the counter for the teenage boy to ring up.

~*~*~

Karen was more than happy with her half of a sandwich, especially after Michael told her that the other half was going to Ben’s kid brother. Now that both Cliffords had some food and water in their stomach, Michael continued to drive. “Where is this shelter you heard about?” Michael wondered, and Karen shook her head.

“It’s full,” Karen sighed. “All the ones that showed up on the website are full already.” Michael was silent for a few moments before he muttered a quick curse and then hit the steering wheel with a clenched fist.

“Okay,” Michael murmured, running his hands through his hair. “Okay, we’ll figure something out. For now, we’ll just keep driving,” he told his mom.

“Michael,” Karen interjected. “I don’t mind if we just pull off somewhere for the night. We can regroup tomorrow.”

“Maybe,” Michael sighed. “I don’t want to just stop anywhere though. I want to make sure it’s safe, Mom.”

“I know, baby, but we’re stronger than you think. I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Karen promised gently. “Just make sure to keep talking to me. I want to know what’s going through your mind. Okay? Promise me that.”

“I promise, Mom,” Michael whispered after a few moments.

It took another hour or so, after the sun had dipped far below the horizon, but Michael finally found a place to pull off for the night. It was a small clearing of forest that hid Michael’s truck from the road, and Michael cracked the windows open the slightest bit so there was some air circulating in the cab. “Now what?” Karen whispered.

“We sleep, rest up for tomorrow,” Michael replied as he leaned the seat back. “Or at least we try.”

~*~*~

“Ben, can’t we please just pull off somewhere? I don’t think there’s anything coming up soon,” Jack grumbled as he looked into the distance. Well, as far as he could in the dark. “And I really have to pee.”

“You’ve made that abundantly clear in the past ten minutes,” Ben sighed. “I’ll stop as soon as it looks safe.”

“Well hurry up,” Jack grumbled. “It’s getting dark and that’s _definitely_ not going to make it any safer,” he sighed.

“He has a point,” Luke pointed out meekly from the back seat. “The sooner you stop the less dark it is and the less he complains.” Ben sighed once more and then pulled off the road, unbuckling once he parked the car.

“Fine. Alright, everyone out. Mandatory stop so this doesn’t keep happening,” Ben instructed, gesturing to Jack. The younger man rolled his eyes but jumped out of the car, then Luke followed suit. It was a lot darker than it had appeared from inside the car, so Luke stepped closer to Jack, who glanced down and nudged Luke’s shoulder.

“You okay?”

“I guess,” Luke mumbled. As the three brothers headed a short distance into the tree line, they began to put a bit of distance between each other until Luke was between both Jack and Ben but couldn’t see either one. Luke took a couple more steps forward, an odd feeling in his chest that something wasn’t right. But he chalked it up to all the events of the past few hours, trying to shrug it off.

But then he heard it – footsteps. Slow, quiet footsteps approaching from behind Luke. Luke gnawed at his lip nervously as he slowly turned around. “Jack? Ben? Is that you?” he called in no more than a whisper.

Suddenly, something jumped toward Luke and Luke cried out as he fell backward in an attempt to avoid the shadowy figure. He heard his brothers calling out his name from a few feet away and Luke got even more afraid – this obviously wasn’t a trick his brothers were playing.

“Who are you?” the voice graveled as a hand jetted out and pulled Luke from his fallen position on the ground to standing. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Luke cried out, flinching away. “My brothers and I – we didn’t mean – please don’t – “ Luke continued to stutter over his words as a light appeared from elsewhere. Luke could hear running footsteps toward him, and suddenly Ben was yelling out as well.

“Luke! Are you okay? What’s going on? I heard…Michael?” Suddenly the struggling from behind Luke stopped, and the hands holding tightly to Luke’s arms loosened. “Michael! Let him go!”

“I’m sorry!” the gravelly voice was now much softer, and the hands holding Luke captive disappeared. Luke stumbled away and toward Ben, who already had his hand out for Luke. As soon as Luke was close enough, Ben pulled him toward his own chest. “Ben?”

“What are you doing, grabbing people in the forest?” Ben frowned, looking around for Jack, who was just now joining the scuffle.

“My mom and I…we’re parked not too far away and I was worried when I heard people coming. I didn’t know it was you.” Michael looked behind him to where Jack was standing behind him, and then Michael looked back to Ben and Luke. “ _This_ is your baby brother?” Michael asked in disbelief. “You made it sound like you had a kid with you!”

“He _is_ my baby brother,” Ben replied easily. “So leave him alone.”

“Sorry,” Michael repeated again. Then he frowned, looking around. “Where are you guys off to? Why are you so far out of the towns?”

“All the emergency stations are filled,” Jack responded. “But I’m sure you know that already, judging by the fact that you’re here too.”

“Yeah,” Michael sighed, shrugging. “I didn’t know what else to do but get off the main road.” Ben nodded his agreement and then turned to his brothers, looking around.

“We should go, before it gets bad out,” Ben mentioned. “It’s supposed to rain.”

“Where to?” Luke asked quietly. “We don’t have a plan.”

“You can stay with us tonight,” Michael offered after a beat of silence. “To make up for scaring you,” he said awkwardly. “Sorry…again, about that.”

“That might not be a bad idea. Maybe the shelter will clear out some by morning,” Jack told Ben, who stared at Michael for a moment before nodding shortly.

“Strength in numbers, right?” Ben suggested, looking to Luke. “What do you think?”

“I’m just tired,” Luke yawned.

Ben nodded once more and then looked back up at Michael. “Just tell me where to drive,” he replied, and Michael nodded, taking a few steps forward. Then he turned to Jack and Luke. “You two stay here,” he instructed. “I’ll come get you when the coast is clear.”

“You act like I’m some kind of threat,” Michael scoffed. “You don’t need to be afraid of me.”

“I didn’t say we were,” Ben replied quickly as they began to walk away. It grew quiet between the two men as they walked back toward the main road, then Michael sat in the passenger’s seat and directed Ben through the woods to a clearing where his own truck sat.

“You go get your brothers and I’ll tell my mom,” Michael suggested. “We can leave each other alone or we can be friendly. Your choice,” Michael shrugged.

“We’ll see,” Ben replied as he locked the car after jumping out. Michael watched as the tall blonde stalked off into the trees calling for his brothers, and then sighed before turning back to the truck to go talk to his mother, who was bound to be excited at the prospect of more people. Michael, on the other hand, wanted to stay the night then get gone. He didn’t want to be bogged down by more people when things got bad.

But, Michael thought, if he was being honest… he didn’t want to get emotionally attached to anyone else who was going to die.


	3. I Found You in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m scared,” Harry whispered, seeming to relax a bit when he saw his brother moving. Ashton opened his mouth to respond, to tell Harry it was okay, but then there was another scraping noise from the top of the car and a strangled whine escaped Harry’s mouth. 
> 
> “What’s going on?” Lauren’s voice was fuzzy. 
> 
> “I don’t know,” Ashton admitted. "Just stay quiet, okay?"

It seemed like forever before either anyone spoke up again, but the neon green clock on Ashton’s dashboard displayed the hour of 03:18 like a medal. It had been just over two hours since Calum had joined the Irwin carpool, and Ashton sighed angrily before slowing to a stop on the side of the road. “I don’t think we’re going to find another shelter tonight. I’m shattered – I can’t keep driving.”

“I feel you,” Calum agreed. “Why don’t we just find somewhere to pull off and rest?”

“I don’t think that’s safe, do you?” Ashton wondered, turning to face Calum as best as he could. “People are acting crazy. They’re –“ he stopped abruptly, casting a glance at Harry, who was slumped against the seat, fast asleep. “You’ve heard the news.”

“Yeah. The radio gets pretty repetitive pretty quick,” Calum sighed, looking at Harry as well. “I know what they’re saying on the radio. It’s some _Walking Dead_ level shit out there. But staying on the side of the road isn’t smart either. We’re in plain sight here.”

“Dude, this is a Honda. It isn’t exactly an off-roader,” Ashton huffed before running his hand through his hair. “Sorry, I know you’re right, I’m just…why the hell is this happening?” the last part of his statement was a whisper, and Calum stayed silent.

“I don’t know, man. But it is. And you’ve got people to protect,” Calum reminded him gently. “They’re counting on you.” It was as if on cue that Lauren began to stir in the passenger seat, and Ashton reached his hand out to rest on her knee.

“Hey, sis. Are you okay?” he wondered, looking at the clock. “It’s late. You should be sleeping.”

“Why are we stopped?” Lauren’s voice was sleep-laden as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Did we find somewhere to stop?”

“Not exactly. It looks like we’re going to be spending the night in the car,” Ashton told her regretfully. “Calum and I were just talking about where to park.” It wasn’t until the mention of the dark haired boy that Lauren turned around, squinting in the dark to try and make out the features of the person behind her.

“Hi, I think you and I have actually met before,” Calum told her gently. “I coached Harry’s footie team from time to time.”

“Your voice is familiar,” was Lauren’s reply. The following silence was a little awkward, leading Ashton to clear his throat and scratch at his neck a bit nervously. “Are we just going to park on the side of the road like this?”

“I don’t know,” Ashton snapped. “I can’t exactly take this dumb car all through the forest,” he mumbled, groaning as he rubbed his temples. Lauren visibly recoiled at the sharpness in her older brother’s voice, her shoulders only tensing as his outburst was followed by a quiet muttering of “Fuck, I’m sorry, Lauren.”

Lauren didn’t answer, instead turning so she faced out the window, not looking at her brother. Calum could see the outline of her face, illuminated slightly by the lights on the dashboard. “We could park just inside the trees. Not a lot of wear and tear on the car, and we’re out of sight from the road,” Calum suggested, unbuckling his seat belt. “I’ll go scout around a bit. Give the dog a chance to walk around a bit, too,” he suggested, more than eager to escape the now tense car.

“Fine,” Ashton relented, nodding at Calum. “Take a flashlight. There’s one in the pocket of Lauren’s seat. In front of you,” he instructed, and Calum grabbed the instrument thankfully. “Click it on and off three times if you need help or something.”

“Yeah,” Calum agreed before carefully lifting the dozing puppy from Harry’s lap. He slid out of the car and shut the door as quietly as he could manage, the cold night air sending a shiver down his spine. One hand held Champ to his chest protectively while the other gripped the flashlight firmly, the small sphere of light illuminating every tree and casting eerie shadows that made Calum’s stomach sink.

Lauren watched as the dark-haired boy disappeared into the tree line, biting her lip as her eyes burned with silent tears. She was trying so hard to hold it together, but one wayward tear and quiet sniffle gave her away to Ashton. “Lauren, love, I’m so sorry,” Ashton’s voice cut through the silence and Lauren _wanted_ to stay mad, she wanted to tell him to fuck off, she wanted to slap him. But instead she found herself turning to her brother and whimpering.

Ashton quickly closed the gap between himself and his sister, hugging her as tightly as he could manage in the vehicle. “I’m so sorry,” he cried, finding tears falling down his own cheek. “I didn’t mean to snap. I’m scared,” he admitted. “I’m so scared.”

“Me too,” Lauren’s voice cracked as she buried her face in Ashton’s chest. “I don’t want to be here.”

“Me either,” Ashton agreed, kissing her hair as he watched Calum’s flashlight beam disappear behind the tree line. “But we are. And we got to stick together, right?” It was quiet for a moment, save for the siblings’ sniffling and Harry’s quiet breathing.

“Yeah,” Lauren finally agreed. “Are we going to stay with Calum?” At the mention of the male, Lauren sat up and looked out the window once more.

“I don’t know,” Ashton admitted.

“That’s becoming a really common answer,” Lauren commented, but there was no malice behind it. Only recognition.

“Yeah.”

 _Crunch. Snap. Rustle._ Breathing. Wind scurrying through the branches of trees. Calum was on high alert as he stood with his back to a tree, watching as Champ wandered near his feet. His ears seemed to be picking up every sound as he looked around the clearing. It would be a tight squeeze to get here, he thought, but once Ashton could maneuver the car this far into the trees, they could be safely shielded from the road.

Calum took a few minutes to breathe in the crisp air before he crouched down and lifted Champ into his arms once more and made his way back to the car. As he got closer to the car and could make out the outline of Ashton and Lauren sitting in the front seats, he clicked off the flashlight and made the rest of the trek in the dark. He opened the door and slid into the car, smiling softly at the sight of Harry snuggling deeper into the seat, if possible, at the sound of the door. “There’s a clearing a little way in,” Calum reported softly, not wanting to risk waking Harry. “It’ll be a tight fit to get in there, but it’s a good site.”

“Okay,” Ashton nodded, turning the key in the ignition once more. He drove forward slowly, wondering if he looked as uncomfortable as he felt. He hardly breathed as he maneuvered the car through the grass and toward the tree line, hoping that Calum was right that the car would fit. He wondered at what point he started taking the word of someone he’d only met a few hours prior.

It took quite a while because Ashton was afraid of going too fast and realizing he couldn’t get through the trees, but after about half an hour the car was parked and Ashton let out a loud sigh of relief. “Good job,” Calum piped up from the back. “Looks good.”

“Ash, I’m kinda hungry,” Lauren admitted quietly after a second, glancing at Ashton and wringing her hands in her lap. “Did we bring any food?” Ashton nodded in response and moved to open the car door. “Wait, where are you going?”

“The trunk. Stay put, okay? I’ll be right back,” Ashton promised, squeezing her hand before jumping out of the car. In the silence, Calum glanced up at Lauren.

“Your brother is a good guy,” he offered in the quiet.

“I know,” Lauren murmured. “Can I ask you something that might be really like…way too personal?”

“Sure,” Calum shrugged. “Shoot.”

“Where’s your family?” Lauren’s voice was unsure, like she knew she shouldn’t ask but just couldn’t refrain.

“America,” Calum sighed. “California to be exact.”

“I’m sorry,” Lauren said after a moment. “Maybe it’s not so bad there?”

“One can hope,” was Calum’s response, and luckily Ashton reappeared then, keeping him from having to say anything else. He cleared his throat instead and shook his head at Ashton’s offer of food. “I’m good, thanks. That’s your food.”

“We don’t mind sharing,” Ashton insisted. “Have you even eaten today?”

“I had a granola bar a few hours back, right before I met you guys at the shelter,” Calum smiled. “Honestly, I’m okay. Thanks, though.” Ashton nodded and instead handed the bag to Lauren, who rummaged through it for a moment before pulling a pack of graham crackers from the bag and opening them as quietly as she could manage.

Ashton had shut the door and locked the doors, settling back in the seat. “Hey, Calum, do I have room to lean the seat back or will I squish Harry?” he whispered.

“You’ve got some room. Come on back and I’ll tell you when to stop,” Calum offered, watching the seat intently as Ashton leaned back, the blonde’s eyes locked on Calum in the dark light.

“Stop,” Calum whispered, causing Ashton to halt. “That’s enough.”

“Thanks,” Ashton smiled before looking between Lauren and Calum. “Does anyone know of anything we need to do before we sleep? You need anything?” the last part of the question was more directed to Lauren, who shook her head.

“I’m good, Ash,” she promised. Something about the exchange between siblings made Calum’s heart ache for Mali and his parents, and he found himself swallowing thickly.

“Uh, maybe one of us should sit outside and keep watch,” he suggested. “I’ll go first. You’ve been driving and need to sleep.” Calum was already shoving a few things in his backpack, mainly the flashlight and a blanket. He decided that Champ could stay with Harry. Give the kid someone to play with if he woke up.

“If you’re sure,” Ashton replied with a nod. “Wake me up whenever you get tired, and I’ll switch with you.” Calum gave him a thumbs up before stepping out of the car again. Ashton watched as the boy stepped up onto the hood of the car, then disappeared onto the roof. There was a loud clunking noise as Calum settled on the roof of the car, but then it quieted once more.

“Hey, Lauren?” Ashton’s voice was thick and sleepy, but Lauren looked at him immediately. “Tell me a story so I stay awake.”

“Why? You need to sleep,” Lauren pointed out around the bite of graham cracker in her mouth.

“I don’t want to sleep until you sleep,” Ashton admitted.

“That’s dumb. I’m not going anywhere. Besides, we’ve got Hawkeye here,” Lauren chuckled, jutting her head toward the top of the car. “Sleep. Please.”

“Nope,” Ashton replied, a smirk in place. “I am determined to stay awake until you go to sleep too.”

“Fine. Give me a sip of your water bottle and then I’m sleeping,” Lauren compromised. Ashton searched for a moment before finding his half-finished water bottle in the small cup holder in the door of the car. Lauren drank from it deeply for a moment before capping the bottle and slumping into her seat and adjusting her jacket as a blanket. “Are you happy now? Will you sleep?”

“Debatable,” Ashton replied, but it was so mumbled that Lauren knew her brother was moments from sleep. She watched as his eyes drifted closed but the tension didn’t leave his body, even after his breathing evened into quiet snoring. At some point, Lauren fell asleep too, leaving the car silent save for the breaths of all three Irwin children.

Calum sat on the roof of the car, the blanket draped over his shoulders and tears falling down his cheeks as he twirled his phone in his hands. There was still no signs of communication from his family, and the aching in his heart only continued to grow as his attempts to reach them ended only in busy signals.

Occasionally, the boy would glance up and look out at the tree line. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he was always happy to not see it. He didn’t want to admit that he was tired, because he knew that Ashton needed rest. So Calum resorted to putting one headphone in and listening to some music while letting his thoughts drift. His chin rested on his knees and he glanced out across the clearing, tapping the bass line of the song into his calf with his fingers.

Somewhere along the way, Calum must have dozed because suddenly his head was jerking up as his knee had gone lax and was no longer supporting his chin. “Fuck,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly and looking around quickly, as if something would have gone wrong during his small nap. Everything seemed alright though, and the pitch black of night was beginning to turn a dark purple, as if the sunrise was coming soon. Looking down at his phone, Calum read the time out loud, just to keep himself awake. “Five thirty,” he sighed. “How long did I sleep?” he wondered.

But before he could do the math in his head, there was a loud snapping noise from behind Calum. Fear struck down his spine and Calum spun around quickly, eyes scanning the tree line. He didn’t see anyone, but he still hid his breath, letting the ear phone fall from his ear so he could hear with both ears.

 _CRACK._  

There it was again. Now Calum was truly frightened, and his grip tightened on the flashlight in his hand, belatedly realizing that he had absolutely no kind of weaponry on him.

Inside the car, Harry jerked awake at the thumping noise on top of the car. In his groggy state, he was unsure of where he was, or why he was in the car. He was so confused, and he felt the emotions constricting his throat. “Ashton!” he whined out, seeing his brother slumped against the window of the driver’s door. It was like all the news stories he’d seen before Ashton turned off the TV flashed in his head, and Harry felt like he was going to throw up. “Ashton! Wake up!”

Ashton jerked at the shrill sound of his name, and he turned quickly to see Harry looking frightened out of his mind. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared,” Harry whispered, seeming to relax a bit when he saw his brother moving. Ashton opened his mouth to respond, to tell Harry it was okay, but then there was another scraping noise from the top of the car and a strangled whine escaped Harry’s mouth.

“What’s going on?” Lauren’s voice was fuzzy.

“I don’t know,” Ashton admitted, watching as Calum’s outline took a few steps toward the back of the car. One hand gripped Harry’s tightly, and his other hand found Lauren’s shoulder, holding it just as tightly. “Just stay quiet, okay?”

Calum was slinking toward the back of the car, hoping that whatever was out in the woods would make more noise. He froze by the trunk, straining his ears for any signs of movement. His eyes scanned the darkness, wishing with all his might that it was just a slight bit brighter out.

_CRUNCH._

Calum’s head whipped to the left where he’d heard the new noise. His hand itched to reach out and open the back door of the car, to dive in and hide his head in his lap, to have Ashton drive away. But he found himself feeling responsible for the kids in the car with Ashton. He couldn’t let whatever this was get to them. The determination to face this unknown threat head on outweighed his desire to hide.

Which is why he did possibly the dumbest thing ever. He opened his mouth. “Hey! Who’s out there?” he yelled, the sound echoing.

And he waited.


	4. I Found You in the Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You also have to look out for you. That’s so, so important. You can’t let yourself drown to keep other people afloat.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Jack asked Luke for the millionth time. They were standing exactly where Ben had left them, but Jack hadn’t let go of his baby brother yet.

“I’m fine,” Luke insisted, biting his lip. “That just freaked me out.”

“Me too,” Jack replied. “But Ben seemed to be okay with Michael, so looks like we’ve found somewhere good for the night.” Luke was quiet for a minute, and Jack sighed deeply. “I’m sorry all this is happening.”

“I just want to get to Mom and Dad,” Luke croaked, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t like them being so far away.”

“You and me both, brother mine,” Jack squeezed Luke’s shoulder. “We’ll get there.” It wasn’t too long after that when Ben showed up, waving his flashlight as he approached so that Luke and Jack knew it was him.

“Michael and his mom have their truck and not much else. Kinda like us. So we’re just sleeping in the car tonight,” Ben told his brothers, leading them back into the trees.

“Hey, Ben?” Luke spoke up. “Why did Michael ask if I was your baby brother?” he asked in confusion.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ben laughed. “We just had a little falling out over the sandwich you ate earlier.” Luke cast a confused glance to his brother and shook his head.

“Okay,” he sighed. “So, after tonight, what are we going to do?” he wondered.

“We’ll talk about that in the morning,” Ben decided. “Everyone needs to rest first.”

“Yeah,” Luke nodded. “That sounds good.” It didn’t take too much longer for them to come upon a clearing where Luke first saw Ben’s SUV and then a beat up orange truck where Luke could finally get a good look at the guy who had scared him half to death.

As soon as the brothers entered the clearing, Michael pushed himself from his leaning position on the truck, stepping toward the Hemmings. “Hey, sorry again about what happened back there,” Michael commented, reaching his hand out to shake. “Michael Clifford.”

“Luke Hemmings. It’s okay,” Luke shrugged, shaking his hand quickly. “Uh, thanks for letting us crash with you.”

“Least I could do,” Michael smiled. “And I’m sure my mother will be happy to see someone other than me,” he laughed. It was as if mentioning his mother made her exit the car, because moments later a woman walked around the front of the truck, waving. She looked almost exactly like her son, just shorter.

“Hi there. I’m Karen, nice to meet you!” Karen chirped.

“Hi, I’m Ben, this is Jack and Luke,” Ben introduced all of three of them. “Your son was very nice in allowing us to stay with you.”

“Oh of course, always happy for company,” Karen nodded. “How are you guys doing with all this?”

“Fine, I guess,” Ben nodded. “Just picked this one up from University and now we’re trying to head toward our family,” Ben’s hand rested on Luke’s shoulder. Luke could see Michael studying him with a curious eye.

“Where’s your family headed?” Karen asked conversationally, and Ben looked at his forearm, reading off the name of one of the emergency shelters that he had written.

“That’s not too far from here,” Michael replied. “That’s like two hours up the road.”

“Really? Oh thank God,” Jack chuckled. “I’m so tired of the road and driving.”

“We can head out tomorrow,” Ben decided. “For now, we rest.”

“Do we need to do anything to help you guys get settled?” Jack offered, looking to the mother and son across from him. “It’s so nice of you guys to let us crash with you, but we don’t want you guys to do all the work.”

“I think everything’s good for now,” Michael shrugged. “Maybe some kind of signal if any of us wander off into the trees during the night…you know, to avoid the whole scaring situation again?”

“If anyone’s missing from the car, turn the cab light on,” Luke suggested softly, crossing his arms and shivering at the breeze that picked up suddenly.

“There you go with the good ideas again,” Ben smiled before draping his arm across Luke’s shoulders. “Let’s get you out of the cold.”

“It’s not even that cold,” Luke mumbled, his cheeks tinging pink, but he didn’t protest as his brother led him to the car and opened the back door.

“Thanks again,” Jack told the Clifford duo before taking a quick step backwards. “See you in the morning?” Michael just nodded before turning to his mom and leading her to the other side of the truck, and Jack turned on his heel to join his brothers.

“This has been the weirdest fucking day,” Luke was grumbling, already splayed out in the back seat, just now realizing how thankful he was that Jack’s SUV had a bench seat and not two separate ones. His backpack acted as a makeshift pillow, and he’d slipped on one of Jack’s hoodies to protect from the cooling temperatures.

“No arguments there,” Ben scoffed his agreement as he leaned the driver’s seat back a bit so he could recline. “Listen, if anyone needs anything, please let me know. I don’t want anyone going off on their own.”

“Yes, Captain,” Jack chuckled as he settled into his own seat as comfortably as possible. “You know what this makes me think of?” he whispered into the silence after a few minutes.

“Hmm?” Ben sounded close to sleep already.

“All those nights we used to have Dad set up the tent in the backyard for us to play with, then we’d spend the night out there,” Jack grinned. “Remember that?”

“Oh my god, yeah,” Ben chuckled sleepily. “And little Luke always ended up copping out and going inside because he was afraid of the dark.”

“Shut the hell up,” Luke grumbled sassily from the backseat. “I wasn’t afraid. I just liked my bed more than a sleeping bag on the hard ground.”

“Yeah, that’s why you always slept with Mom and Dad after,” Ben teased. “Still scared of the dark, Lukey?” he wondered, his smirk heard in his tone of voice even though it couldn’t be seen.

“Nope. Ditched my night light last week, lucky for you,” Luke smirked right back. “Now shut up so I can sleep, jerk.” Silence took over the SUV then, and Ben was nearly asleep when Jack suddenly cleared his throat.

“Love you guys,” Jack whispered.

“Back ‘atchya,” Ben mumbled.

“Love you too,” Luke replied softly. Then Ben let himself drift off, hoping that he could get a decent amount of rest before the shit could hit the fan. He didn’t know that Luke was laying wide awake behind him, staring with teary eyes at the ceiling of the vehicle.

All Luke could think about was Ryan – who’d looked like death warmed over when he’d left all those hours ago. And all of Luke’s texts to him had gone unanswered, leaving Luke to his imagination and all that provided him was visions of his roommate and closest friend in immense pain and unable to help himself.

 _Don’t cry,_ he told himself angrily, but it was hopeless as he felt the tears well in his eyes. _Damn it, Luke, don’t cry!_ But he couldn’t help it, somehow feeling guilty for leaving Ryan behind. It played over and over again in his head, and even though Luke knew that logically, he couldn’t have done anything differently, he still had this deep ache in his chest of regret.

Jack was almost asleep when he heard it, and the sound made his heart shatter into a million pieces.

 

Luke was crying in the back seat, and obviously trying to hide the sound from his brothers. Jack bit his lip nervously, unsure of what to do. A quick glance over revealed Ben’s mouth open and a slight snore proving that he was knocked out. So instead Jack peeked over the edge of his seat to his little brother, seeing Luke laying on his back and scrubbing his eyes, trying to regulate his breathing.

 

“Luke,” Jack whispered, sitting up and laying his hand on Luke’s arm. “Luke, what’s wrong?”

 

“Ryan’s gonna die. Ryan’s gonna die and I left him in our dorm alone.” The boy’s voice cracked, followed by a few gasping breaths, and Jack wanted to just gather his little brother in his arms and hug all the hurt away.

“Luke, you don’t know that,” Jack tried to say.

“He couldn’t even get out of bed to throw up,” Luke’s voice was flat. “He couldn’t take care of himself…and I left him there.” His voice had taken on a sense of anger, and Jack sighed before he quietly opened his door and climbed into the backseat beside Luke, who had sat up from his lying position as soon as he realized his brother was coming to him.

“That’s not your fault,” Jack insisted, tugging Luke close to him. Luke didn’t protest the comfort Jack offered, instead resting his head on his shoulder. “Ryan could have gotten help. Someone could have taken him to the hospital.”

“Or he’s dead,” Luke whimpered sadly, scrubbing at his eyes again. “Jack, I don’t want anyone to die.”

“I don’t either,” Jack whispered, feeling himself tear up a bit as well. “I know you feel awful about this, Luke. But you also have to look out for you. That’s so, so important. You can’t let yourself drown to keep other people afloat.”

Luke didn’t respond to that. He didn’t have to. He knew Jack was right. Instead, he just settled into the seat and rested his head on Jack’s shoulder again. After a moment, Jack’s cheek rested on Luke’s head, and that’s how they stayed, tear tracks dried on their cheeks. 

~*~*~

“Well they seem like lovely boys,” Karen smiled as she reached for her seatbelt before giggling. “Silly me, we aren’t going anywhere.”

“Yeah, Mom. You’re fine,” Michael chuckled before glancing out the window, though that was useless because it was pitch black outside. “They do seem nice. The oldest one – Ben – he’s the one I ran into at that gas station. The one I told you about splitting the sandwich with.”

“Oh, how nice of him! I’m glad that Luke one got food, he surely looks like he could gain some weight,” Karen commented. Michael scoffed.

“Yeah, he’s been eating University food all this time. Hasn’t been lucky enough to eat Mama Clifford Cuisine,” he smiled before settling into his own seat. “How are you doing? Do you need anything?” he wondered.

“No, love, I’m fine, thanks,” Karen reached out and patted Michael’s cheek. “You’re a sweet, sweet boy. You know that, right? I love you more than anything in this world.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Michael replied, his hand resting over hers, pressing it further into his cheek. “I promise we’re going to stay together, and we’re going to stay safe.”

“Just promise me one thing,” Karen requested.

“Anything,” Michael agreed quickly.

“I’d rather be in danger together than have me safe and you alone. Do you understand me, Michael Gordon Clifford? If this is going to be as bad as you say it is, I want to help. I don’t want to stand back in the name of safety.”

Michael was silent, the weight of his mother’s words heavy in the air. Inside his chest, his heart was beating so fast he felt it was going to explode through his chest. All he wanted in this world was his mother safe. He didn’t want to do anything to compromise that.

“I know you,” Karen continued quietly. “You’ll go down kicking and screaming if that means I’d be safe. And I’d do the same for you because you’re my baby boy. But this is different, you know? I want to be with you the whole way, whether that way is safe or not.” Even in the dark of the car, Michael could see his mom’s teary eyes through the reflection of the dashboard lights.

“Okay,” he finally agreed, chin quivering. “Okay, Mom. I promise.” Karen smiled at that and tilted Michael’s head forward until she could kiss his forehead like she did when he was a small boy.

“Good. I love you, baby boy.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Michael repeated before he cleared his throat. “Uh, do you have enough blankets and stuff? Are you cold?”

“No, love, I’m fine,” Karen promised, settling into her seat and closing her eyes. “Goodnight, Mikey.”

“Night, Mom,” Michael mumbled, clicking the automatic locks one more time before he closed his own eyes, but was unable to relax. He couldn’t sleep though, and it wasn’t until exhaustion quite literally took over his body that he finally relaxed the slightest bit as he fell asleep.


	5. I Found You in the Warning

Calum stood stock-still at the trunk, listening for any signs of movement. But that movement didn’t come, and after what seemed like forever, Calum took a few steps back and opened the door to the car, sliding in and slamming the door shut. He found himself squished up against Ashton, who was sitting in the middle seat, holding Harry close.

“What was it?” Ashton asked, the fear thinly masked in his voice.

“It must have been an animal or something – it went away,” Calum explained quietly, taking in the sight of Ashton curling his arms around Harry in an act of comfort. Harry looked absolutely shattered, terror and sadness written across his face.

“He didn’t know you were on the roof,” Ashton explained. “And you jumping off woke him up,” Ashton’s voice was soft and quiet. Calum’s heart suddenly felt about ten times heavier with guilt, and he couldn’t look at Harry. He turned his head sadly and was instead met with Lauren’s curious eyes, looking him over.

“Are you sure whatever it was went away?” Lauren whispered. Calum nodded, biting his lip.

“I’m pretty sure.”

“Well thanks for being a really good lookout,” Lauren replied. “See, Harry? Calum didn’t mean to scare you. He was trying to protect us.” Calum then chanced a look back at Harry, who was still clinging tightly to his brother’s shirt but seemed a little less skeptical, now scanning Calum’s face and body with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry I scared you, Harry,” Calum reached out to gently pat Harry’s knee. “I should’ve been a little quieter.” Calum jumped a bit in surprise as the overhead light for the car flipped off since the door had been shut, plunging the group into darkness and leaving their eyes to try and adjust.

“It’s okay,” Harry croaked out, glancing at Lauren. “Is Champ still in the front seat?” he mumbled. “Can I hold him?” Lauren smiled softly and handed the tiny puppy to Calum in the backseat, Calum taking a moment to cuddle him before passing him to Harry.

“You take really good care of him,” Calum praised Harry, smiling as Champ licked at Harry’s tearstained cheeks. “He likes you.”

“I like him too,” Harry whispered, the tiny brown puppy wiggling happily in his arms. “He’s very cuddly.”

“Well, you’re a better cuddler than me, so I’ll let you hold onto him for me,” Calum smiled, looking up at Ashton. “Did you manage to get any sleep?”

“I got some,” Ashton replied noncommittally. “It wasn’t a lot but I’m definitely feeling better than I was before. Thanks for taking watch out there.” The curly headed boy looked back down at his brother, kissing Harry’s hair softly. As his hands began to rub soothing circles on Harry’s arms, Ashton glanced up at Calum again. “Why don’t you try to rest now?”

“No, that’s fine,” Calum replied honestly. He was still keyed up from the incident outside and couldn’t imagine himself sleeping. “I’ll sleep while we drive back to my car later. You rest now.”

“Okay,” Ashton relented, looking down to Harry. “Want to try to go back to sleep, little one?”

“Maybe,” Harry nodded. “Will you stay here in the back with me?” he whispered.

“Of course,” Ashton nodded. Calum cleared his throat and scooted toward the door.

“I’ll move to the front seat then. Give you guys some room,” Calum suggested. He jumped out of the car and quickly made his way around to the front, having this unshakeable feeling that someone was watching him. He shivered as he plopped into the seat beside Lauren, locking the door more out of habit than anything.

The car fell into silence after that, and Calum struggled to stay awake, resorting to pinching himself to stay awake. Ashton and Harry had fallen asleep quickly, and Lauren had even dozed after a while.

The purple skies of near-dawn eventually gave way to the orange-red color of the sun rising, and Calum began to feel the iron grip of fear lessen in his throat. Out of curiosity more than anything, Calum pulled his phone from his backpack to see if his family had tried to contact him.

No missed calls.

No missed text messages.

But…

Calum’s heart jumped into his chest as he saw the red icon by his email, beckoning to him that there was a message waiting for him there. In shock, Calum froze as he stared at the little red number. He was afraid, he was anxious, he was _curious_.

 _CRUNCH._ Calum’s heart beat loud in his ear as he heard the rustling of leaves from right outside the car. But when his head whipped around to see what was standing outside his window, there was nothing there.

Calum sat frozen, like all time had stood still. No one had woken up yet…maybe he had imagined the sound? He blinked again, even rubbed his eyes. There was nothing outside the car. Not that he could see.

In his lap, his phone lay forgotten. The hairs on the back of Calum’s neck stood as he had the eerie feeling that _something wasn’t right_. He counted in his head as he tried to regulate his breathing.

 _In…one…two…three…Out….one…two…three._  

Calum swallowed thickly, his heart finally beginning to slow. After a few more seconds he looked back down at his phone, which had gone dark. He picked it up, shaking fingers typing in his pass code.

 _THUMP._ Calum gasped. Now _that_ was definitely something that had hit the car. It sounded like it had hit the bottom of the driver side door – his door, of fucking course. His phone fell into his lap again as Calum stared out the window, but he still saw nothing. His stomach felt cold, as if he’d swallowed a gallon of ice water. His hands were shaking and he wanted to call out for Ashton to wake up, but couldn’t seem to make his voice work.

Calum wrestled with himself – should he open the door and investigate? Should he pretend to be asleep and not make this his problem? Should he wake the rest of the car up?

Fortunately or unfortunately – Calum may never know – the decision was made for him. A hand suddenly popped into view from the bottom of the car door, landing against the glass pane with a loud _SMACK._

“FUCKING SHIT!” Calum shouted, scrambling away from the door without thinking and almost stumbling head first into Lauren’s lap. Everyone jerked awake at that, especially Lauren, who accidentally smacked Calum in the face as her arm fell from where it had been supporting her head.

“Calum? What’s wrong?” Ashton asked, sounding wide awake. Calum turned to him, mouth agape. Ashton had his hand firmly pressed against the back of Harry’s head, keeping the boy from looking up. Calum couldn’t say a word, instead looking back at the window where a bloody handprint remained.

“What the fuck is that?!” Lauren shrieked, her long nails digging into Calum’s skin. “ _WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!_ ”

Harry was crying loudly, body wracking with sobs in Ashton’s arms. Ashton felt helpless – he felt like Lauren was too far away to protect. Calum looked petrified. But even though Harry was sobbing into Ashton’s ear, the puppy was somewhere in the car yapping and barking endlessly, Calum was wheezing and babbling some sort of explanation, and Lauren was repeatedly screaming the same question end on end, Ashton could hear nothing but a loud ringing in his ear as a person stood up beside the car, stumbling until he fell against Ashton’s window.

Ashton instinctively screamed as well, gripping Harry tighter. The man was covered in blood, features hardly recognizable. But Ashton could see the whites of his eyes, and lighter areas on his face where tears were rapidly replacing the blood dripping down his face.

“You have to go!” the man shouted, blood spraying from his mouth with every word. “They’re coming! They’re coming!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?!” Ashton cried through the window, scrambling across the backseat to get as far away from the man outside the window. “Go away! Go away! Go away!” He begged loudly, burying his head in Harry’s shoulder. _This can’t be happening._ “Go away!” he kept repeating.

“Drive, fucking drive!” Lauren insisted, finally giving up her iron grip on Calum’s arms to instead begin hitting him. “Drive! Get us out of here!”

“They’re coming…” the man outside the window insisted, looking over his shoulder. As he turned his head, Calum swore time stopped. After the man’s neck was turned so he could look away, Calum could see the giant bite marks on his neck and shoulder, squirting blood and soaking the side of the man’s shirt and head.

But they weren’t animal bites. They looked _human_. “Fucking shit fuck dammit shit mother fucker!” Calum’s mouth was producing curses at a rate never before seen by mankind as he scrambled to start the car.

“Where the fuck are you going!?” Ashton screamed over everyone else’s screaming, and that _damned dog_ barking.

“I don’t care! Away from here!” Calum shouted back before immediately going back to cursing endlessly as he threw his foot on the gas and took off for the tiny break in the trees that they’d come through the night before.

Lauren was the only one that watched in the rearview mirror as the man watched them leave, watched as he fell to his knees with his hand coming up to helplessly put pressure on the wound in his neck.

Watched as he collapsed moments later, unmoving. She felt as if she were underwater, everyone’s screaming, crying, and barking fading into a muffled commotion as she turned back to face the front of her seat, collapsing into it with a blank expression on her face.  _I just watched a man die_ , Lauren realized, and if she hadn’t already been crying, she would have started right then.

Ashton was still breathing heavily, though his screams of _go away_ had faded into quiet “I got you”s to Harry, rocking the boy in his arms. Harry was keening loudly, still buried in Ashton’s shoulder. Beside Ashton’s hip, Champ was running from the window to Ashton’s leg and back and forth, yipping and whining and jumping about.

“Fuck…fuck that. Fuck this…fuck. Holy fucking….Jesus…fucking….” Calum couldn’t stop cursing, and he realized that _yes_ , there was an eleven-year-old in the backseat but it just couldn’t be helped. His eyes saw but his brain didn’t register the speedometer telling him he was zooming down the open road at ninety-nine miles an hour – he just wanted to get the hell away from where they had been.

~*~*~

Harry didn’t stop crying, it just finally grew quiet as he screamed his voice raw. Ashton was still whispering quietly to him, and had moved to the other side of the car so his free hand could be clinging to Lauren’s hand tightly.

Lauren was staring straight ahead, her eyes squeezed shut. All she could see was that man falling over. How they left him there. Not that they could have done anything. But still. It was an awful feeling.

Champ had stopped his barking long ago and was now sat shaking in Calum’s lap, because Calum knew Harry didn’t want him at the moment and that everyone else had better things to do than take care of his dog. Calum, who was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles had turned white ages ago and now his hands were numb all the way to his wrists. His cursing had become a silent affair, and overall the car was now quiet save for Ashton’s whispers and everyone’s ragged breaths.

No one wanted to break the silence. A few times Calum had opened his mouth, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. “Hey guys, what do you think about the _almost fucking dead guy_ showing up, huh?” That didn’t seem right. But neither did, “Is everyone okay?” because the obvious answer there was no.

But after what seemed like days, but was really only about an hour and a half, there was a loud dinging noise from the car. Calum’s eyebrows furrowed in concern as he looked around the dashboard.

“Oh shit,” he mumbled. “Ashton.”

“What?” Ashton croaked.

“We’re almost out of gas.”

Well, at least they’d broken the silence.


	6. I Found You in the Killing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What did we just do?” Ben asked, voice weak.   
> “We let him grow up,” Jack replied just as softly.

The next morning, Luke blinked awake with sunlight shining in his face. He was still propped up against Jack, who was snoring softly in Jack’s hair. Luke rubbed at his eyes and carefully sat up, trying unsuccessfully to not disturb Jack. “Mmmm, what are you doing?” Jack murmured, sitting up and yawning deeply.

“Waking up?” Luke replied unsurely. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Listen, you two. It’s way too early for the sarcastic bickering,” Ben groaned from up front, stretching a bit as he turned in his seat. “Jack? When’d you end up back there?”

“Last night,” Jack replied simply. Luke cast him a grateful look before moving to open the door and hop out.

As Luke’s feet hit the dirt beneath him, he glanced up and met eyes with Michael, who was standing a few feet away near his own truck. Both teens nodded at each other in acknowledgement and then Luke turned to see Jack crawling out of the SUV as well. “Do we have any food?” Luke wondered softly.

“Just some granola bars,” Jack responded with a shrug. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Luke replied, knowing that now really wasn’t the time to complain. Ben tossed a granola bar to the boy from inside the car, and Luke caught it and immediately opened it to devour it. Ben sighed sadly, feeling bad that he didn’t have any more to offer his little brother.

With that, Ben turned toward Michael, who was still just standing there. “Morning,” he called. Michael lifted his hand in response, and Ben walked over to talk to him. “How did you guys sleep?” he wondered.

“Fine, I guess,” he shrugged. “I was thinking about going to look around to see if I could find any food,” Michael sounded unsure, causing Ben to cock his head to the side.

“Do you even know how to hunt?” Ben asked.

“No, but I guess we’re going to learn today,” Michael laughed.

“Do you want company?” Ben asked. “It may not be the best idea to go alone.”

“I’ll go,” Ben looked over his shoulder to where Luke was standing, half the granola bar uneaten in his hands.

“Luke…” Ben shook his head. “You don’t need to do that.”

“I wanna help,” Luke insisted. “I went hunting with Ryan’s family a few times,” the softness in his voice made Ben swallow thickly. He knew Luke wanted to help, but he was still so young and Ben wanted to protect him.

“I could use his help,” Michael replied softly. “If he knows what he’s doing.” With both Michael and Luke looking at him and waiting for an answer, Ben felt like he couldn’t breathe. He knew what was happening all around them – just because they were in the middle of nowhere didn’t mean they were safe. He had no idea how close all this shit was happening.

“Jack? I need your opinion,” Ben called out, and just moments later Jack bounded up beside them, stretching.

“What’s going on?” he wondered.

“Michael’s going to go hunt for some food and wants some help. Luke’s offered to help because he’s been hunting before,” Ben looked between Jack and Luke. Jack looked shocked, Luke looked annoyed.

“I mean…if he knows how, I don’t see why he can’t go? He knows to be careful,” Jack replied. Ben’s throat tightened in fear, but he nodded a bit.

“Yeah, he does,” he murmured.

“It’s okay, Ben. We’re staying close…right?” Luke asked as an afterthought, looking to Michael.

“Yeah, we’re staying close,” he agreed. “I want to be able to hear if anything happens here.” Luke nodded and looked back at Ben.

“See? It’s fine,” he smiled, looking down at the sandals he was still wearing from yesterday. “Let me go change into my boots,” he told Michael before hurrying back to the SUV.

Ben locked eyes with Michael. “I swear to God, if you let anything happen…”

“Hey, I’ve got him, okay? Nothing’s going to happen. I’ve got his back. But listen, I’ve got your brother, so if you wouldn’t mind just…” Michael trailed off as well and looked back toward his truck, where his mom was sitting in the open bed and reading in the sunshine.

“Of course,” Jack jumped in, nodding. “You watch our people, we watch yours.”

“Thanks,” Michael breathed out. He glanced down at his watch. “It’s a little past eight now. I promise we’ll be back by half past nine,” he told the Hemmings brothers, who nodded. Luke reappeared then and bounced a bit excitedly on the balls of his feet.

“Ready!” he told Michael.

“Please be safe,” Ben sighed, ruffling Luke’s hair. “Listen to Michael, okay?”

“He’s not a kid, Benny,” Jack winked to Luke. “He knows what to do.”

“Yeah,” Luke nodded before stepping back toward Michael. “We’ll be okay.” Michael nodded and turned toward the treeline.

“Come on, Indiana Jones,” he stated, leading him away. Jack and Ben watched them disappear, listening to Luke giggle his way through an explanation that Indiana Jones was _not_ a hunter, there was a difference between an adventurer and a hunter.

“What did we just do?” Ben asked, voice weak.

“We let him grow up,” Jack replied just as softly. “But it’s going to be fine,” he decided, looking to Ben and slapping his back. “So let’s not worry about it.”

Ben just pursed his lips and nodded in the most unconvincing way before turning back toward the cars. Maybe he could distract himself by talking to Michael’s mom.

~*~*~

“So who’s Ryan?” Michael asked curiously.

“My roommate,” Luke replied shortly.

“What kind of roommate takes his friend home to hunt?” Michael scoffed as they trekked through the wooded area.

“A really cool one,” Luke sighed softly. “I don’t want to talk about him right now,” he insisted.

“Oh…okay,” Michael replied, confused. “Sore subject?”

Luke didn’t reply, just pushed ahead of Michael and continued to walk, looking for any sort of animal. Michael rolled his eyes and followed after him, already kind of regretting accepting the offered help.

It took about twenty minutes, but finally Michael pointed out a bush, stopping in his tracks. It took Luke a moment longer to see what he was excited about, but then he saw the small rabbit just hanging out beneath the leaves.

Luke expected himself to feel the same guilty pull in his stomach that he had the last time he’d been out hunting. When he’d been with Ryan’s family, he had been so hesitant in his actions that he hadn’t actually been able to _do_ anything.

_“Come on, Luke! My dad already shot it, you’re just taking it out of its misery,” Ryan insisted, patting Luke on the back and pushing the butt of the knife into Luke’s hand. Luke opened his mouth to protest, but Ryan interrupted him again. “Come on, just walk over there and stab it behind the ear, tilted toward the center of his head.”_

_Luke’s hand shook as he held the knife in his hand and took a few steps toward the deer that was lying a few feet away. Guilt swirled in his stomach and made him feel sick, and he gagged before turning away and shaking his head, letting the knife fall from his hands. “I can’t,” he gasped out, stumbling away. “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”_

_Ryan rolled his eyes and picked up the knife, and Luke’s eyes filled with tears as he heard the deer be stabbed, crying out before it died. “This is the worst day of my life,” he whispered to himself. “This can’t be real.”_

Luke blinked a few times, not having realized he’d gone catatonic until Michael had pushed his shoulder slightly. “You okay?” Michael wondered. Luke nodded. “Here, take this.” Michael lifted his foot and pulled a knife from his boot, pushing it into Luke’s hand.

Luke’s breath was shaky, but he steeled himself against any emotions. People did this all the time – they hunt for food and eat what they find. It was with that thought that Luke was able to push the guilt away and he stepped forward quickly, stabbing the rabbit at the base of the neck, angling the blade upward so it speared the brain.

Luke whimpered loudly as he felt the knife rip through the skin and hit bone, wishing he hadn’t heard the pitiful squeak the rabbit had emitted before going limp in his hand. Luke’s stomach churned once more and he left the rabbit beneath the bush as he scrambled away, dry heaving and gagging. “Dude,” Michael sounded worried. “Are you alright?”

“I just killed a rabbit,” he mumbled. “I’ve never killed anything before,” he admitted before his stomach heaved again and the tiny amount of granola bar he’d eaten earlier made its reappearance.

“I thought you said you’d hunted before,” Michael frowned.

“I’ve been hunting but I’ve never killed anything,” Luke wiped his mouth on the hem of his shirt as he stood. “But that’s out of the way now, so let’s keep going. That’s not going to feed us all,” Luke gestured to the lifeless animal at Michael’s feet. “You can carry it.”

“Luke,” Michael called out. “You didn’t have to do that. I would have,” he watched as Luke shrugged, the boy already walking away with the knife still in his hand.

“Too late,” Luke called. “Now let’s go.”

Michael just sighed and followed, wondering what the hell he’d managed to get himself into.

~*~*~

Almost an hour had passed, and the boys had three more rabbits to show for it. “I think this should be enough to hold us over for a while, so maybe we should head back to camp.” Michael decided, looking to Luke.

After the first kill, Luke had been quiet and reserved. After the second, he’d seemed angry at Michael, but by now, he seemed back to normal, if just a bit somber. He walked quietly alongside Michael, stepping carefully over holes and logs to keep from stumbling. “So, do you always get along with your brothers, or has the end of the world shit made you guys closer?” Michael wondered.

“We’ve always been close,” was Luke’s response. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No, it’s just me and my mom,” Michael replied. After that, the duo returned to silence and continued walking back in the direction of their makeshift camp. It was fine for a couple of minutes, but then Michael stopped when their silence was broken by a low groan and a shuffling sound.

“Hel-“ Luke called out a questioning greeting, but was caught off-guard by Michael’s hand slapping across his mouth to quiet him. He grumbled into Michael’s hand, but Michael just shushed him.

“Shut up and stay still, Jesus Christ,” Michael grumbled, and Luke’s stomach dropped as he remembered something.

_“We think this flu is killing people and bringing them back to life.”_

“Is this…” Luke whispered, and Michael reached out, slapping him on the arm before putting a finger to his lips as the groaning only grew louder and the shuffling became more agitated and grew closer.

As Michael stood there with Luke right beside him and the rabbits forgotten at his feet, his breathing grew shallow and more panicked. The world seemed to stop spinning, and Michael felt like his lungs were being crushed, void of air, when something stumbled out of the tree line and into his line of vision.

Michael was frozen in his spot, watching as someone fell to the ground, their ankle caught in the weeds. “Sir, are you alright?” Luke looked like he was moving forward to help, and Michael panicked.

“Don’t get near it!” Michael snapped, pulling Luke away so fast the boy fell backward into the dirt. Luke opened his mouth to protest, but then the person lifted their head and Luke let out the most ear-shattering scream.

The person’s face was wounded beyond recognition, flesh pulled away from the bone, exposing it to the world. The blood was dried and dark – this man had been dead awhile. His clothes were tattered and dirtied with blood and dirt and grass, and his hair was matted down to his head.

Luke began to hyperventilate as his eyes ran up and down the person – the _thing_ – crawling toward him, finding himself frozen in fear. Michael’s name was stuck on his lips, but Luke couldn’t manage to make it leave his mouth.  

Michael was just as frozen, never having been so scared in his life. This was every horror film he’d ever enjoyed brought to life – and he hated it. “Fuck!” he exclaimed loudly. “Fuck, Luke, get away from it!” He reached out and gripped the collar of Luke’s shirt, pulling him out of harm’s way.

Luke coughed and spluttered as he tried to catch his breath after Michael let him go, and he jerked his head around to see where the boy had gone. Michael was pulling yet another knife out of his boot, and somewhere in the back of Luke’s mind, he wondered how many knives one could carry on their person. But that thought was silenced as Michael jumped forward, letting out a strangled yell as he jabbed the knife into the guy’s temple, all the way up to the handle of the knife.

Instantly the groaning stopped and the man went limp, crumpling onto the ground where he’d laid. “Michael!” Luke gasped. “What the hell?!”

Michael didn’t answer, instead standing on shaky legs and stepping away from the growing puddle of blood, wiping the knife on a nearby patch of grass. When he turned back around to face Luke he looked absolutely sick, face pale and eyes wide. “Let’s get going,” Michael cleared his throat, and if Luke hadn’t just watched this shit show go down, he would have thought that Michael was perfectly fine.

“Dude, you just killed a man and your only words are ‘Let’s get going’? Michael, you just fucking murdered a guy!”

“You tell me that thing was human,” Michael snapped. “I’m fine man, let’s go.” He stepped toward where he’d left Luke and then reached down to pick up the rabbits he’d abandoned nearby.

Luke still hadn’t moved by the time Michael had gathered everything, and the boy moved to offer his hand to help Luke up. “Are you sure you’re fine?” Luke wondered. “You look a little pale,” he frowned.

“I’m fine,” Michael insisted, nodding to reassure him. “Everything’s –“ Michael’s insisting was cut off by a loud gag, and he turned away from Luke and bent over, hands on his knees. He gagged for a few moments then stood back up, looking even shakier on his feet than before. “I’m fine,” he repeated before squaring his shoulders and heading back in the direction of their families. “Where there’s one there’s more, so shut the fuck up and keep moving.”

Luke’s face fell at that, the sarcastic comment about Michael being fine dying on the tip of his tongue. “Okay,” he replied.

“Did I not say shut the fuck up?” Michael hissed, and Luke curled in on himself a bit, the whole feeling behind their excursion having changed drastically in the last seconds. All he could do was hope nothing else weird happened on the way back.

~*~*~

Ben and Jack had wasted away about an hour talking to Karen, but then it had become apparent that Ben was barely hanging onto sanity and had excused himself back to the SUV. Jack kept Karen company though, swapping stories and just spending time getting acquainted with one another.

Ben laid in the back seat of the SUV and was currently attempting to regulate his breathing but having a pretty bad time of it. His heart felt like it was beating so fast that Ben swore it was about to rip from his chest cavity. Realistically, Ben knew that Luke would be back soon, but even though he knew that, he couldn’t help feeling like something awful had already happened.

A knock on the window made Ben jolt upward, eyes wide and breath hitching as he searched for the source of the sound. Jack was standing there, looking concerned. He pointed at the door handle and Ben nodded, moving his legs off the seat so that Jack could open the door and slide into the backseat.

“Is it happening again?” Jack wondered quietly, and Ben just nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. Never has been. It just happens,” Ben croaked. He licked his dry lips, feeling dehydrated.

“Here, drink something,” Jack suggested, handing Ben a water bottle and moving to put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Do you need me to do anything for you?” he wondered.

“No,” Ben shook his head. “I just need Luke back.”

“Soon,” Jack promised, checking his watch. “Michael said nine thirty, yeah? It’s nine ten now,” he told Ben. “Twenty more minutes, tops.”

“Unless…unless something hap-happened,” Ben couldn’t get enough air in his lungs, and he stumbled over his words. Jack hated seeing his brother this upset – it had only happened a handful of times since Ben had started high school, but it never got less scary.

“Michael promised,” Jack soothed. “Michael promised and Luke is fine.”

“Y-you don’t k-know that,” Ben was gasping for air at this point, and Jack picked up Ben’s hand and pressed it to his own chest, exaggerating his breathing so Ben would follow along. “J-Jack, I…”

“I know,” Jack soothed. “It’s okay, I know.” He really hoped this worked, because Jack didn’t know what else he could do.

Luckily, he didn’t have to find out. Luke and Michael came bursting through the clearing just then, Luke tearfully calling out, “Guys?!” while Michael hightailed it for the truck and went to talk to his mom.

Ben wrenched himself away from Jack and threw the door to the SUV open, nearly falling out as he hurried to Luke. By the time Jack had managed to climb out of the back seat, Ben was hugging Luke tightly, the youngest boy gripping Ben’s shirt tightly as he cried.

“You’re okay,” Ben was promising him. “Whatever happened, you’re okay now,” he insisted. It sounded almost like he was trying to convince himself, Jack thought, but he didn’t care, instead joining the hug as well.

“C-Can we get in the truck?” Luke whispered after a while. “I’m tired,” he whimpered.

“Of course,” Ben replied, and Jack gave him a strange look. It was like he hadn’t been panicking five minutes ago. “Let’s go.” Ben’s hand was resting on the back of Luke’s neck as they climbed into the back seat once more, and Jack cast a quick glance to the Clifford truck before he stepped up into the backseat, catching a glance at Karen’s shocked face. Between that and Luke’s obvious fright, Jack began to worry about what they saw out there.

~*~*~

“Michael, there’s blood on your shirt!” Karen exclaimed. “What happened?”

“Luke wouldn’t carry the rabbits,” Michael replied flatly, already pulling off his shirt.

“Mikey, don’t lie to me. What? Happened?” Karen insisted.

Michael sighed and continued to dig through his bag, unhappily beginning to recount the tale, hating the scared look his mom now wore, knowing he was to blame. Tears filled her eyes as Michael told her about the thing they’d encountered, and he noticed his own hands were shaking.

“Michael,” she whispered. “Michael, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Michael replied with a weak voice. “As long as it keeps us all safe, it’s okay.” Maybe if he kept telling himself that, he would be okay.

And maybe one day he would stop replaying the past hour in his head like an awful horror movie. Maybe one day he wouldn’t tear up at the memory of that man lying there lifeless, his blood splattered up Michael’s arm. Maybe one day Michael could pretend that this was just a dream, that he’d wake from and everything would be back to normal.

Michael could only hope that one day came sooner rather than later.


End file.
